Wankhede Stadium's Special Tribute to Dhoni: Honoring MS Dhoni's iconic six with special seats

The iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai is well prepared to host its first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 between England and South Africa on Saturday, October 21. Ahead of the fixture, the images of the venue have surfaced on the internet and the fans are loving the revamped stadium prepared for the mega event.

Notably, the Maharashtra Cricket Association has made two special seats in the stadium where the winning six of the 2011 World Cup from MS Dhoni landed. The special seats have two replica trophies of the World Cup around it with the photograph of team India posing with the 2011 trophy in the background.

Also Check: ODI World Cup 2023: Chennai pays tribute to MS Dhoni with mural for IND vs AUS match

The two seats where MS Dhoni's 2011 ODI World Cup winning six landed at the Wankhede Stadium will forever be symbolic to every cricket fan ✨🏆#MCA #MumbaiCricket #IndianCricket #Wankhede #BCCI pic.twitter.com/HM2uFhLz1F

— Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) (@MumbaiCricAssoc) October 20, 2023

Ahead of the World Cup, MCA President Amol Kale had mentioned that the two special seats will be permanently named after MS Dhoni and will be known as ‘MS Dhoni seats’. The seats will also have hospitality service and will be sold at a premium price. 

The MCA had also informed that the two seats will be auctioned and the funds collected from it will be used to provide scholarships to emerging players. 

The funds collected from this auction will be utilised to provide scholarships to emerging players.

— Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) (@MumbaiCricAssoc) September 14, 2023

Notably, India ended their 28-year-long wait for the ODI World Cup trophy on 2^nd April, 2011 at Wankhede Stadium after their beat Sri Lanka by six wickets. However, the victory wasn’t cake walk as the hosts were left reeling at 31/2 after 6.1 overs chasing a target of 275. Star openers Virender Sehwag (0 off 2) and Sachin Tendulkar (18 off 14) were back in the pavilion as Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga got his team off to a perfect start.

MS Dhoni guided India to their second ODI World Cup win with his sensational 91*

India’s condition further got worse as Virat Kohli (35 off 49) was dismissed by Tillakaratne Dilshan to leave India on 114/3 after 21.4 overs. Following his dismissal, captain MS Dhoni walked out to the middle ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh and stitched a massive 109-run stand with Gautam Gambhir (97 off 122).

Also Check: 2011 World Cup Recap - Revisiting unforgettable moments

While Gambhir failed to complete his hundred and got dismissed in the 42^nd over, Dhoni went on to finish the game for India with his incredible innings of 91* (79). The Indian captain smacked Nuwan Kulasekara on the second ball of the 49^th over straight down the ground for a maximum to seal the World Cup win in emphatic fashion. Dhoni was awarded Player of the Match for his captain’s knock while Yuvraj Singh was adjudged Player of the Tournament for scoring 362 runs and picking 15 wickets in the tournament.